JOIN US

Careers & Volunteering

Will you join us? ARC teams are reimagining humanitarianism for the 21st Century. We are on a mission to transform our work to be more human, impactful, relevant and authentic. The world’s problems are tougher than ever, but we also see an unprecedented opportunity to bring a world full of amazing people together to work on these hard challenges.

Let’s Do Something

ARC often hosts events and opportunities open to the public, and we speak to community groups all the time. We also love new ideas and the chance to work with new people and groups to make change in the world. You can find ways to get to know us and get involved or reach out to an ARC team member to simply ask a question or inquire about how we might work together.

Many Ways to Give

We believe that giving is an incredibly personal experience – and that’s why people choose to give in so many different ways. But deciding how to give can also be an overwhelming experience. We’ve compiled some of the most common ways that people choose to support refugees and the American Refugee Committee. Please use the information provided as a guide but know that at the American Refugee Committee we remain open to new and different ways of giving.

On Recent Events Concerning Refugees

As an organization whose mission is to help refugees find safety and move forward, we want to address the recent executive order regarding refugees. Without question, it is devastating whenever and wherever we see borders close to them.

Fear is shaping this conversation. The same fear that is driving support of these policies, is that which is driving people to seek sanctuary in the United States. The desire to protect ourselves and our families is universal.

Refugees are fleeing conflict, not causing it. It is our honor to work in places like Syria, Somalia, and Sudan. Every day, refugees show us what hope and resilience look like. They want nothing more than to make a future for themselves and for their children. And, regardless of how difficult it gets, they do not stop trying. We know this personally – because these are our colleagues, our friends, and even ourselves.

We are in the midst of a truly global crisis. Right now, there are more refugees and forcibly displaced, than in any other time in modern history. In 2016, the global toll of displaced people shot above World War II levels. There are now more than 65 million people who have been forced to abandon their homes and their ways of life to escape war and conflict.

The vast majority of them – 99% – live in refugee camps or informal settlements and are largely unseen or forgotten by the rest of the world. Each year, less than one-half of 1% of the refugees have the opportunity to resettle in the United States.

Around the world, countries like Jordan, Turkey, and Kenya are shouldering the responsibility of hosting the world’s refugees. In 2016, Uganda welcomed more than 500,000 new refugees into their country (as compared to 85,000 who entered the United States). They rely on support from countries like the U.S. to make this possible. If the U.S. were to turn its back on these host countries, the results would be catastrophic. Countries would be destablilized under the weight of their obligation.

American leadership is central to the international system that supports refugees – from funding international organizations that protect refugees to welcoming refugees to our country – all of it springing from the natural goodwill and compassion of the American people. As such, the precedent the U.S. sets with this action will reverberate across the globe.

The global refugee crisis requires leadership and action, as politicans but also as everyday people. The magnitude of the problem should stir us to action not intimidate us to complacency and fear. As everyday people, we have our own part to play. This is a time for us to have difficult conversations with our neighbors and loved ones, a time to renew our empathy for others and recognize our common humanity. If we’ve learned anything in a career serving refugees around the world, it’s that compassion is simply never constrained by a border.